Step By Step
by Mistystarshine
Summary: After facing a disaster on the island Sam returns to Perdido Beach, Caine and Diana in tow, and finds himself explaining the situation to Astrid. AU, Sam's point of view of the ending of chapter seven of 'Silence'. Can be read as a one-shot.


**AN: So, this is an idea that has been eating away at my mind ever since I wrote chapter seven of 'Silence'. I could have tried to fit it into the chapter, but it would have been wonky, had quite a bit of point of view switching(which I'm trying to avoid, I'm trying to keep the story to Caine and Diana's points of view with the exception of plot points where it is necessary to switch, such as Penny in the prologue and in a few chapters to come.), and made one freakishly large chapter. Since tonight I don't have time to write a whole, proper chapter I figured I would write this and set my plot bunnies free. It is Sam's point of view from the end of chapter Seven of 'Silence', mainly his conversation with Astrid and some of his feelings about the whole situation. While it works best knowing the context it also works as a one-shot, which is why I am posting it as one. Enjoy. :3**

**Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.**

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Many a time Sam had found himself wandering the streets of Perdido Beach, and at many hours of the day as well, including the middle of the night. But this time? This time it was different. There was a sense of wrongness to it, but then again this entire situation was _wrong_. It had all started three days ago(or at least he assumed it was about three days, he hadn't exactly been keeping a good track of time) when what looked like a flare was noticed off in the direction of the island. It was tiny in the distance but bright and noticeable none the less. At first it was assumed to be a fluke, but when a second shot was fired, and then another, the topic of going to check it up came up. In the end Sam had managed to convince Quinn to take himself and Dekka over to the island. Lana had been a last minute addition, the healer volunteering to go and him figuring that it would be good to have her with, just in case.

As it turned out it was a very good thing indeed. Upon reaching the top of the cliff they came upon a gruesome sight, Caine with his throat cut open and Diana trying desperately to keep him alive. Lana managed to save him, but that did not mean he was fixed, not completely. His twin had been rendered mute in the attack, which was later revealed to have been caused by Penny.

And to be perfectly honest he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He and Caine had never gotten along, as a matter of fact they were enemies. But seeing him without his voice felt _wrong_. Worse was how he had been trying to act like everything was normal and fine today, quite the difference between his breakdown the day before. Sam assumed that he was trying to make up for that in a way. Although he didn't know Caine too well he knew that he liked power, and knowing that he had suffered this amount of damage, damage that would probably never be reversible, must be driving him mad. So he tried to act like everything was fine and it didn't hurt at all. To her perfectly honest it almost hurt him to see it.

This was what he was thinking of as he approached Astrid's house, although he guessed it was his house as well in a way. The trip from the island back to town had been a little interesting but mostly stressful, and he had no doubt that it was about to get worse. Only moment ago he had ended up explaining that they would be staying in Astrid's house, a fact that neither Diana nor Caine seemed to enjoy one bit. As he walked he swore he could feel their gaze burning into the back of his head. Of course when the house came into view he couldn't help but glance behind himself and see the bemused look on Caine's face, which added the absolute certainty that he was being judged to the ever uncomfortable feeling of being watched. It was a nice, reasonable house, and there was absolutely no reason for either of them to live in anything bigger, so why should what he assumed his brother thought annoy him?

Almost as soon as he began thinking about it he pushed it to the back of his mind. There were more important matters to deal with at the moment, matters involving his girlfriend. This was _not_ a discussion he was looking forward to. It was reluctance that made him hesitate at the door for a moment, and sheer force of will that made him push himself forward and knock. Almost as soon as he knocked he heard Diana hiss behind him, "some people have manners, you know." For a moment he felt a burst of confusion, but that didn't last long at all. She was talking to Caine, she had to be. It was odd how she seemed to understand him even when he couldn't say anything, even when he wasn't writing anything down. Caine had always been good at hiding how he felt, and expressions were a big part of that. But then again, how long had she known him? All he knew for sure was that the bond between the two had to be very strong, even if they both seemed incredibly reluctant to admit it most of the time.

He was pushed out of his train of thought, which only lasted for a matter of seconds, by Astrid opening the door. The first thing he noticed was that she wasn't wearing any pajamas yet. This concerned him, even with the FAYZ she had always done her best to keep to a proper sleeping schedule. Was there a chance that she had been worried about him? Or maybe worried that his little expedition was going to result in something horrible and she'd have to figure it all out somehow? Things hadn't exactly been smooth sailing for them lately, so he couldn't help but doubt that she had been concerned for his wellbeing. Then he saw her expression, worry and quite a large dose of relief.

Part of Sam cherished the sound of her voice as she began, "Sam, I-" only to encounter a sinking feeling as soon as she cut off. Her eyes narrowed in a cold expression as she caught sight of their unexpected visitors. He was not at all surprised when she hissed, "what are _they_ doing here?"

Before he had a chance to even try and say anything Diana commented, "well, it's nice to see you too." He felt the incredible urge to give in and walk away right then and there. No, he couldn't have left them on the island, and he certainly couldn't let them stay with anyone else for the time being. But this? There was absolutely no way that this could end well.

And yet there weren't any other options.

So Sam let out a sigh of both defeat and dread before looking his girlfriend in the eyes and saying, "it's… a long story. Mind if we come in?" At first she just stood there and for a brief moment he feared that she wouldn't move. Without thinking about it he sent her a pleading look. The situation was truly desperate, and she must have picked up on that for she soon stepped to the side. Although he was far from in the clear Sam felt a small part of the huge weight he felt on his chest leave him as he entered the house, the Coates kids following behind him.

There was no ignoring the tension in the room as they all stood there in complete and utter silence. Slowly his gaze flickered from Astrid, to Diana, and finally to Caine. Someone would have to tell her, there was absolutely no getting around that. But he somehow doubted that Diana was up for rehashing the entire story tonight, and he didn't feel okay with either of them having to listen to it again. Having to see Astrid's reaction, be put on the spot like that. He couldn't help but pity his brother for a moment, which was ridiculous. Not only was Caine someone that he didn't think would really appreciate pity, in fact he rather thought he might end up slammed into a wall if he knew what he was thinking, but some might say that he wasn't worthy of it. That didn't stop Sam from saying, , "you two can step into the other room if you like. I'm going to catch Astrid up on recent events… you'll probably be hearing it plenty in the next few days."

Nervousness flashed through Sam, a brief moment of fearing how his brother would react. But after a moment Caine simply gave a nod of his head before walking into the indicated room, Diana pausing to give him a grateful look before following. Again the room fell quiet and Sam found himself looking at Astrid. He knew what she wanted, answers. She had been opposed to the idea of him going to the island in the first place, in fact he wouldn't be surprised if she was rather mad right now. But underneath it all there had to be curiosity, she had to be wondering exactly what had happened that had caused him to bring one of the people most hated by Perdido Beach and his most loyal cohort, although he believe that Diana was much more than that, to her house.

He ended up mentally thanking god, or whatever higher power existed in the FAYZ, for the small miracle of himself being able to keep his voice down as he said, "Caine's mute."

Two words, two words were all it took to send Astrid the genius into what seemed like a momentary state of shock. This shock showed clearly on her face, along with a certain level of alarm and horror. While some might think that the horror might be out of sheer pity Sam new better. Caine's voice had been fully functioning when he had fled to the island and his powers had always made him strong. For this to suddenly change meant something must have happened, and anything that could bring him down might pose a threat to them all.

Astrid's voice was a stunned whisper as she asked, "how?"

So he explained. About how they found Caine bleeding out from a cut in his throat while Diana tried to keep him alive, how Lana had managed to heal him but not completely, and about Penny, the girl from the much talked about cliff incident who had gotten her revenge. An attempt at murder that, considering what the result had been and who the victim was, was almost as bad in a way. Caine had many strength and manipulation was certainly one of them, and it wasn't very easy to charm your way through life when you couldn't speak. However, he did not tell her about everything. Keeping secrets didn't get them anywhere good, a lesson they had both learned the hard way. But some things just weren't his to tell. How Diana had stayed up beside Caine until he woke up despite having been incredibly exhausted, the breakdown when he had discovered that his voice was gone, the throwing of the trees, none were mentioned. Not out of fear for what how his brother might react if he spoke about certain things but out of some form of respect. If Caine wanted to act like everything was alright then fine, even if he knew it wasn't true he wasn't going to try and force everyone else to see it as well.

Once he had covered everything Astrid admitted, "I… really don't know what to say. Or do." Sam gave a nod of agreement, and for a moment neither said anything. Or at least they didn't until she added, "but… is it safe? Keeping them here?" The look on her face said that she already knew the answer, and it was definitely no.

Sam sighed before honestly replying, "no, it's probably not. But we couldn't leave them there, not with Penny, not after everything that's happened. They would have had to come back eventually and if they didn't…" He trailed off, knowing that if they didn't come back there was only one thing that could have happened to them. He let out a sigh before slumping against the wall and admitting, "I can't have any more blood on my hands, Astrid. Not when I know that there's something I might have been able to do to prevent it."

Suddenly he was looking at his feet, not quiet able to make himself look at her when saying such a thing. The sound of footsteps alerted him to her moving to stand by his side, a sound that was closely followed by the soft touch of her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at this, surprise flickering across his face for a moment. Astrid's voice was tired as she said, "I know. There's no telling what will happen, but you couldn't leave them there." A sigh left her before she added, "I guess we'll just have to face whatever happens then. One day at a time."

Sam felt the faintest of smiles cross his face at this. His world was a dark, broken, and upsetting place right now, but maybe there was some sort of hope. Maybe they would be able to handle it. They just had to face it step by step, one day at a time.


End file.
